The fact is, I like cooking and baking, but when I cook and bake, I want to eat. Immediately. I don’t want to stage my food so it looks pretty, and set up nice lighting, and take a nice photo that will be accepted by Foodbuzz and Tastespotting. I want to cram the food directly into my mouth. That’s why Crustcrumbs is great, because John is a cook and food stylist, and I just have to take pretty pictures. Here, I end up snapping a quick shot with my iPhone and slapping a hipster filter on it out of laziness.

I’ll figure it out eventually. I still want to share paleo recipes I’ve tried and written, to keep track of them for later.

So. Back to what’s important. Being a grown up, and APPLE PIE FOR BREAKFAST.

This started because we had a bunch of apples in our fridge, which I bought because I was definitely going to make lots of Martha Stewart-esque apple recipes (with Martha Stewart-esque photographs), and then I didn’t. My fiance reminded me about the apples, so I googled “paleo apple pie” and found PaleOMG’s Apple Pie Tartlets. I love tiny food! Tiny food is so much more adorable than regular sized food! Tiny food makes me feel so dainty as I shove 4 of them into my mouth (because they’re small, so it’s okay).

Juli’s recipe rocks. But, it didn’t take me 15 minutes to prep. It was more like 45 minutes (I might be incompetent). And it only took 20 minutes to bake, instead of 25. And I didn’t use coconut cream, because I forgot to put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, so I used real whipped cream (no sugar added).

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When people find out I eat gluten-free, the response is often something like this: “oh, I’ve heard of that! I was thinking of trying it out. Is gluten-free healthy?”

Before I answer, I want to talk about my summer a little bit. I can’t even begin to remember everything I’ve done the last few months. We had family visiting from Florida, family visiting from England, and family visiting from Windsor; I went to cottages; I went to Vegas; I moved out of my apartment so my floors could be replaced post-flooding from our upstairs neighbours; I decided to do a kitchen renovation at the same time.

Here’s a little preview of the kitchen I’ve had to work with for the last few weeks:

Before we demolished the kitchen, my boyfriend’s family visited for a week, and we ate out almost every meal. So I’d say I’ve been eating like crap for about 33 days now. Full disclosure: I’ve polished off a Dairy Milk bar approximately every 3-4 days, and last week I bought a 2lb bag of Rockets for no reason besides they were by the checkout at Shoppers Drug Mart and I wanted to shovel them in my face. I’ve eaten at restaurants (fast food and otherwise) for basically every meal besides breakfast since our kitchen was demolished. I devoured a whole tub of frozen Greek yogurt by myself. I’ve been eating nachos and pizza and burrito bowls and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Froyo.

I feel gross. And I’ve probably gained about 8lbs (I haven’t checked; my scale is still in a box somewhere).

But it has all been gluten-free! Every bite. Not an ounce of gluten.

I went to the Gluten Free Expo (or as everyone else calls it, “the cardboard convention”) in Toronto a few weeks ago, and I tried all the samples. Breads, cookies, cakes, bars, pasta, you name it. Lots of them were delicious! But by the end of the day, I felt awful. I went home wondering, what’s the point?

My haul.

Back to the question: are gluten-free diets healthier than normal diets?

No.

Obviously, people who have celiac disease must not eat gluten. I also believe strongly in non-celiac gluten intolerance, even if mainstream medicine does not (yet). Not eating gluten has made enough positive changes in my health for me to never eat it again. I believe it can play a role in autoimmune disease (like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) and endocrine disorders (like PCOS), mental health issues (like depression), and neurological issues, just to name a few.

I also get really annoyed when I see articles like “The dangers of going gluten-free“, which reiterates the idea that people with celiac disease are the ONLY ones who should avoid gluten, and ONLY after they receive a confirmed diagnosis from a doctor. Which could mean eating a ton of the thing that is literally destroying your intestinal lining, for months, and possibly getting a false negative anyway. Why some doctors are so opposed to elimination diets and why some people are so desperate to eat gluten they won’t stop until a doctor says “your intestinal lining is finally destroyed enough for your biopsy to be positive!”, I’ll never understand. Guess what? If you have celiac disease, and you stop eating gluten, you will feel better! There’s your diagnosis.

Articles like that always fail to actually explain the dangers of going gluten-free. It makes a cool scary-sounding headline, but the “dangers” always end up being things like “it’s expensive!” and “gluten-free products might not be fortified with as many nutrients as gluten-filled products!” As for the former, yes, if you buy pre-packaged stuff, it’s more expensive to eat gluten free, but it’s getting cheaper. Eating whole foods isn’t really more expensive. The latter is correct too, but it’s basically saying that it’s dangerous to eat gluten-free bread because it’s not enriched with as many nutrients as Wonderbread. Here’s a crazy thought: maybe people shouldn’t be getting their nutrients from enriched wheat bread either?

There is nothing “dangerous” about eating gluten-free. There are no nutrients found in gluten-containing foods (wheat and other grains) that cannot be attained from other foods. In fact, I think anyone with a persistent medical issue (which includes most people in North America) should try not eating gluten to see if it helps or not. However, a diet isn’t automatically healthy because it’s gluten-free. You know what’s gluten-free? Candy. Chocolate. Ice cream. Sugar. Corn chips. Rice. Eating a bag of gluten-free cookies is not healthier than eating a bag of Oreos simply because the Oreos contain gluten. Shoveling roll after roll of Rockets into my mouth is not healthy because Rockets don’t contain gluten.

So, if you don’t think you have celiac disease, and you’re going to eat the exact same crap you are already eating, you may as well keep eating it with gluten. If you really want to make a change in your health, try real food. (Or the plant-based kind, if that’s your thing.)

Me? I can’t wait to have a kitchen again so I can get back on the low-carb, paleo bandwagon.

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I had a “comprehensive health assessment” last Friday, which is a fancy way to say “physical”. Since I don’t really have a family doctor right now, I went to the clinic my parents recommended, and they do everything from blood work to abdominal ultrasounds to fitness testing. It was pretty neat.

I expected to be criticized for my diet and thyroid treatment, and I was. I had a consultation with a dietitian who actually twitched as soon as I mentioned the word “paleo”. He told me I eat too much fat, especially saturated fat, which will raise my cholesterol and give me a heart attack (no). Also, my diet is severely lacking in fiber, of which grains are a necessary source (no). Also, even though I eat around 100 grams of carbohydrates a day, it’s not enough for my brain to function and I need to eat more (no). Also, it’s just too darn restrictive! Everything in moderation! (Sigh.)

The doctor herself mentioned “placebo effect” when I answered her question about why I cut out gluten. (If the placebo effect can fix a swollen painful thyroid, depression, and interstitial cystitis, among other things, then I’ll take it.) She also repeated the “everything in moderation” mantra, and told me I should start to eat bread, pasta, and other grains again, so I can have a healthy, balanced diet – because only people with specific gastrointestinal symptoms should cut out gluten. Okay, I’ll take that under advisement (no).

At my last physical, I was still taking Synthroid, and I was a mess. I was sleeping 10+ hours a night and napping every afternoon, I was miserable and depressed, all of my joints ached, and my hair was falling out. I had no energy to exercise or do my job. The doctor told me my thyroid was “adequately treated” because my TSH was under 10, and then gave me a lecture about my weight, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure (all being symptoms of – guess what – poor thyroid function). I got a pathetic score on the treadmill fitness test and did 0 push ups because I had no upper body strength. The physiotherapist told me I had the flexibility of an 80 year old woman, and my body fat measured in at almost 40%. It was depressing.

So I was pretty thrilled when I took a peek at the screen in the treadmill room on Friday and saw that my time was the longest out of anyone that day, and when my body fat measurement came back 5% less than what my Withings scale says. I passed the flexibility test with flying colours (“wow, you really must do a lot of yoga”). I was even happier when I saw the doctor for a review of my blood work, after being told all day that my diet is terrible, and she said “oh – your blood work is actually really good.” She even said “your cholesterol is amazing!” And my blood pressure is 90/60.

HOWEVER, lately I’ve been noticing a lot of people seeking specific medical advice from the internet, and I think that’s dangerous. Maybe it’s because all of the posts from thyroid patient Facebook groups are suddenly showing up all over my timeline, but it seems like every day someone is asking a question they should be asking to a doctor. For example: “I ordered iodine supplements in the mail. My doctor told me to only take half a pill; should I go ahead and take the whole thing?”

NO, you should take half a pill, like your doctor said – the one who has a medical degree and knows your personal patient history!

“But Jen, lots of doctors are terrible. What if this doctor doesn’t know what he’s doing? Why should I trust this doctor’s advice when other patients are giving me different information?”

Then please, pleasefind a new doctor. I know it can be hard. I know it can take a long time to get an appointment. I know that some people live in areas where good doctors aren’t accessible. I get it, and I know what it’s like to be so desperate to feel better that you’ll literally try anything. But it’s scary when I see people asking for advice that could be potentially dangerous.

I know that patient communities aren’t allowed to give medical advice, because that’s illegal. You’re supposed to say “patient experience has shown…” But that doesn’t stop people from posting about a miracle supplement they tried that made them feel better, which leads to other people in the group ordering that supplement from the internet and taking it without consulting a physician. Iodine is a good example, since its use is controversial - however, many patients online will tell you it’s not controversial and everyone should take it. This weekend, I saw someone tell a patient who has a rare iodine allergy that her doctor is wrong and she should take it anyway. Natural thyroid hormone is another example – I’m always seeing people post about ordering their own from the internet, and getting advice from other patients about dosage. People will specifically post that they are going against their doctor’s dosage and ask other patients how much they should be taking.

I actually did the same thing when I started taking dessicated thyroid hormone. My doctor prescribed a specific dosage, and I increased it on my own based on advice from the internet. I ended up severely hyperthyroid, because I misjudged my symptoms as being hypothyroid symptoms instead of the opposite, and I was over-dosing. I was told that the hyperthyroidism had put so much stress on my heart that I was at risk of heart failure.

Of course, there are success stories too. People post every day about how they got their lives back, and they couldn’t have done it without support from the patient community. There are some extremely intelligent, knowledgeable people in these communities, who work hard every day to fight for other patients to get the proper medical treatment they deserve. But there is also bad advice, people who parrot things they’ve heard without doing research themselves, and people who think that if something worked for them, it will work for everyone.

So, make use of these communities, but be keep a few things in mind:

The people in thyroid communities are patients just like you. They have struggled like you, and some of them have recovered. But they are not medical practitioners. Some of them are extremely well read and knowledgeable, and you should use their advice to educate yourself so you can work with your doctor on a treatment plan. Finding a good doctor should be priority #1. If this is an obstacle, then just be careful with the advice you follow. (For instance, ordering medication on the internet without a prescription and dosing yourself based on advice from a stranger who knows nothing about your medical history is generally not a good idea.)

Thyroid treatment is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Thyroid patients should understand this, since most of us have gone through the “Synthroid is all you need” treatment plan at least once. So, if someone tells you “this combination of diet, supplements, and medication worked for me, so you need the exact same thing,” remember that you are a different person who likely requires a different solution.

Not every thyroid patient is an expert just because they post in a community group, just as not every doctor is good just because they have a medical degree.

I didn’t even bother taking a decent picture of it, so here is one from my iPhone with a terrible vintage filter:

I made this for dinner last night, because I had a huge carb-heavy lunch and I was too lazy to make a real dinner after pilates. And it was awesome. So:

Paleo-ish Shamrock Shake – Single Serving Edition

3/4 cup unsweetened Coconut Dream

1/2 avocado

1 1/2 Tbsp raw honey

1/2 cup ice cubes

1/2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 tsp peppermint extract

Blend.

Notes:

The original recipe called for a can of coconut milk. I didn’t want anything that heavy, so I used Coconut Dream. Real coconut milk would be creamier. I also toned down the peppermint extract because I thought it was too strong, but if you’re into that sort of thing then use 1/2 tsp.

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I got in an internet discussion a few weeks ago about the alternative medicine joke:

Q. What do you call alternative medicine that works?

A. Medicine.

There seems to be a misconception that alternative medicine is everything from healing crystals to all-juice diets, and “real” medicine is stuff that works. One person said, “if a treatment were proven, my doctor would do it. If he doesn’t, then it’s bullshit.”

Unfortunately, I have learned that thyroid treatment is a perfect example of why it is a lot more complicated than that, and how there is a massive gray area between “proven” and “BS”.

Nothing he does is unsupported by science, and he’s happy to point to medical studies and literature for his patients to read. One could argue that other doctors are aware of the debates about thyroid treatment and have simply made an informed decision that there isn’t enough compelling evidence to support them. However, that hasn’t been my personal experience.

From of the four doctors I saw before my current doctor, questions were met with “I haven’t heard about that” or worse, “it doesn’t matter what new research says, because this is the gold standard for thyroid treatment”. I have relatives whose doctors have never heard of dessicated thyroid medication, which has been used successfully in thyroid treatment since 1891.

All four doctors used the “whatever it says on the lab results page is correct” treatment method (if the lab says your TSH is too high, increase Synthroid dosage, if the lab says your TSH is too low, decrease Synthroid dosage, and if the lab says your TSH is in the normal range, you’re fine and your symptoms are in your imagination).

So what does this mean for patients?

It’s our responsibility to advocate for our own health. Read and research (not to be confused with looking at WebMD and self-diagnosing every ache and pain as cancer), and learn how to have a conversation with your doctor as an active participant in your health care, and not be told what’s right for you. Respect your doctor’s expertise, but still understand that you know if something isn’t right, and dismissing it is not an option. And if you need to? Find a new doctor.

Hopefully, the things listed above will be the gold standard for thyroid treatment sooner than 2030.

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I’m still Christmas-ing at my mom’s house. The Christmas hasn’t stopped since December 23rd! And neither has the eating. It’s like a disease: if there is food in front of me, I will shove it into my face. Unless it contains gluten. Which worked pretty well while I was visiting family in Ottawa and couldn’t eat most of the cookies, but hasn’t worked so well at my mom’s house where there are 6+ tins of gluten-free goodies sitting in front of me at all times. It’s amazing how bad sugar and carbs make me feel, and it’s equally amazing how I keep stuffing them in my cake hole anyway. ‘Tis the season!

I was trying to look back and see if I made any New Year’s resolutions this year, and I didn’t really, but I did achieve my one goal of eating my way to feeling healthy again. Aside from this last week. I’ve never enjoyed food as much in my whole life as I do now that I added meat back into my diet – and I haven’t felt this good in years. I also lost 30lbs this year and am wearing a size 6.

So I suppose my New Year’s resolutions for 2013 are:

Keep eating delicious awesome foods.

Improve on planning meals in advance and going to the grocery store, so I don’t let it get to 6pm before I try to figure out what to eat for dinner, find I have no food, and end up eating pizza for dinner.

Try out more recipes and new things.

Learn how to use the crock pot.

Try fish.

Keep going to yoga and Pilates 5-6 times a week.

I’d like to work towards yoga teacher training this year. I’m not sure I’m ready yet, but I want to start planning for it and deciding where to do it.

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Which is too bad, because I really wanted to make a post about paleo chocolate chip cookies.

It was my own stupid fault, because I’ve made these cookies many times with great success, but today I am hungover and when the timer beeped I just went “urghlhggglhnnnnnn,” until my boyfriend announced: “I smell burning.”

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About

I'm Jen, a 28-year-old living in Toronto.

I like food, a lot. (But I don't like preparing it very much.)

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (autoimmune hypothyroidism) in 2010, and learned the hard way how important diet is to feeling healthy. I started a gluten-free diet in May 2011, and created this blog to encourage myself to get better, live well, and be healthy.